Monarch
(Danaus plexippus)
Milkweed Butterflies
Appearance: Above, male is bright orange; female brownish orange with prominent black veining, thicker on the female, giving them a ‘stained glass’ look. Both have two rows of fine white dots within a black border on the wing margins and on the body. Below, the hindwings are tan with prominent black veins and marginal white spots in a black border.
Wingspan: Large; 3 3/8 to 4 7/8 inches.
Habitat: Open fields, prairies, meadows, marshes, and roadsides; plains, foothills, montane, alpine.
Flight Times: June through September; one to three broods in eastern Colorado.
Larval Foodplant: Milkweeds.
Did You Know…
Several successive generations of this species colonize northward from Mexico each year. In the fall the last brood of the year migrates back to the same spot in Mexico that “ancestors” left in spring (Brock, 2003).
